I like the members only stuff---like still take new bloggers but you you have to pay for services.

The ads have kept me from coming as often cause the load time takes so long.

Thanks for all you do as I've made some awesome friends through blotanical!

All ideas seem do-able...but I like the last two best. You'll finally get a chance to use the Reviews section and use it for the type of ads I'd be more interested in viewing. The same with the classifieds...as long as they remain garden related. These 2 ventures are more in keeping with the community spirit of Blotanical while hopefully, produce some revenue at the same time.

I don't see any of the ads because I use AdBlock. But what if we all just agreed to click through on some of the existing ads? How much would that help? And would the honour system work on something like that?

I like the first option least; the rest are all cool by me. :)

I have to say the last two options seem the best to me, as Jill pointed out.
I'm especially interested in the option of members to advertise their own goods .. not that I would have any but it would be fascinating to read !
Stuart .. I don't know how you do, what you do as it is .. but you certainly should be making some sort of reasonable income for the fantastic job you do here : )
I'll try and support what ever it takes !
Joy

I've suspected for a while that we'd have this conversation Stuart because it's obvious you can't spend the time that you do on Blotanical for free. There's other gardening communities out there all paying someone to maintain their sites, thus needing to generate income too.

You know so much more than I do about using Ads and earning money. So I'm playing devil's advocate with some of my answers :)

Whilst you have a relatively high membership for a gardening community, is it sufficient to generate the income for the amount of time you think the site needs?

Your first option is a bit chicken and egg. Without knowing what's on offer, I can't say whether I'd be willing to pay for it. You'd also still have to make the free part tempting enough for people to be attracted to Blotanical in the first place, so the paid bit would have to be pretty whizzy!

A lot of members' blogs are advert-free zones, so they probably wouldn't be that attracted to options 2 or 3. Option 3 also sounds pretty complicated to operate and therefore the least desirable - how could you prove the income was being distributed fairly for instance?

The Reviews option sounds doable, but possibly could no longer be called reviews? On the surface it sounds a bit like a glorified Adsense, but I'm assuming you mean something more targeted for garden bloggers. For example the RHS to advertise their garden shows such as Chelsea? If this is the case, you'd need to spend time attracting that kind of advertising and quite a bit of it may only be attractive to certain sectors of membership e.g. there may be geographical limitations.

Selling our own stuff would only work if there were sufficient members and there may also be geographical/ legal limitations for things like seeds and plants.

I think you'd also need to provide a more robust service for anything that's paid for. Again that's chicken and egg isn't it? If you could get more income for Blotanical, it would allow you to devote more time to ensuring that more robust service.

I know I'm not providing any solutions here, but these are the thoughts that sprung up immediately as I read through your piece. Hopefully, it'll stimulate some further debate which will lead to some viable solutions for you.

Another thought - is there any way you can simplify the site, so that it's less complicated to maintain? I suspect you'd say the answer is the shear volume of members, plus possibly the Picks system are the problems. It might be worth asking people about which features they value the most and which ones they don't? If one of the bottom features on the list is one you're finding hard to maintain, then there's a potential win-win all round if it's dropped from the site?

Also looking back at what you've said about the TO DO list: just because someone suggests what looks like a good feature, it doesn't mean we'd all like or use it. What we suggest is really easy to say, but might be especially hard to implement. AND you're not really obliged to provide them all without getting a sense of which ones we'd really really like first.

It's a question of striking the right balance between pleasing most of us most or all of the time whilst taking the least amount of effort to provide it. You can't please everyone, no matter how accomodating you are.

VP makes a good point -- would removing the Picks altogether diminish your workload for the site? If so, I'd be all for that.

I'm going to second Nancy. If removing Picks helps. I'm all for it and I agree that I would really need to see what I'm getting before I could say if I would be willing to pay.

I enjoy being a part of this awesome site and want to see it continue to grow so let us know how we can help.

and a big Thank you for all you do.

Nancy - you've just gone to the top of my list of hero/ines. I'd love to see the end of picks. I've never really understood them and they trip me up all over the place.

Esther

Reading these intelligent and well-thought out responses is one of the many reasons I joined Blotanical. Simplifying the site sounds like good commonsense. Whatever the decision will be, you can count on me to support you.

Hi Stuart,
I understand the problem with the ads. I actually wrote a post a while back saying that ads on sites like this presented an ethical dilemma - do I click on ads that don't interest me to say "thank you" to the site owner, knowing I'm ripping off the advertisers, or ignore them knowing that I'm giving nothing back for all your hard work.
I'm happy with all of your options. For the first one, I think it would be important to get the price right - you need something that will give you a return without putting off potential users. I'm considering something similar on a site of mine (nothing to do with gardening) at the moment, and had been thinking of going low, hoping to make up the revenue on quantity. Those of us who are "hardened" blotanicals would probably pay slightly more - but how many of us are there? There is now this very unjustified feeling (which I admit frequently attacks me) that anything on the net should automatically be free.
All the others are fine by me - though I think the advertisers on the Reviews page might want a bit more prominence than being tucked away on an internal page. A "Reviewed this week" box on the front page with a direct link to the article might help.
Interesting how everyone hates picks. Me too, though I know you love them and I understand why. I think they probably do attract new members - it looks like a great way to get your blog recognised, and when the blog is good, in the early days it works wonderfully. There have been a couple of examples of this in the last few months. I suspect it's us "older" blotanists who hate them - and probably all for the same reasons, which I won't list here ...
Can't think of what options you might offer to members. The forums haven't taken off (I think because there are just too many. They need streamlining - do other people agree?) so wouldn't currently be an attraction. And most of the other current features would be necessary to attract people in the first place. I don't think they'd pay on arrival - you'd get people joining after they'd been here a while and had decided they liked it.
But like everyone else I fully understand that you need a return for all the work you put in and will happily back any decisions you make - and if they speed up the site, all the better!

Like VP, I didn't think it would be long before we had to talk money here on Blotanical. It is a wonderful resource, which we get to use for free.

I also belong to 'My Folia' which I use simply as a place for journaling my plants and garden, and not particularly for the social networking aspect of the site. I have become a supporter, and this year I paid US$ 20 for that. The reason that I am happy to support the site is because it is run by a couple Nic and Nath and not a faceless corporation - so in that respect I would be happy to support you Stuart, and Blotanical.

As Sue mentions in her comment, I would not have paid this amount to My Folia on arrival - but after I was more certain that it would meet my requirements.

I am not advocating a paid membership - just sharing with you what I have been prepared to pay for an online resource.

I am not a big fan of ads because even in this day and age of fast broadband, sometimes they take an age to load, and I get very disconcerted with flashing / jumping images.

I cannot remember if you have actually asked the members how and why they use Blotanical and I don't know if knowing the answer to this question would help in any way. (I guess I am thinking about the picks here).

My least favorite options are 2 and 3

K

Stuart, if you can find a way to make the Internet pay, you'll be the only person besides Amazon, porn, and sports sites, and will become an instant hero (and, of course, villain) to millions. Like others here, I like your last two options. But I'd also be willing to pay an annual subscription fee simply to belong to Blotanical, since I get so much pleasure from it and the community it nurtures. I guess this sounds blasphemous to a lot of bloggers, but you really are providing a great service, and if you wanted to charge an annual $15-20 (U.S.) membership fee I think that would be entirely reasonable. I'd pay that much for a year's subscription to a favorite magazine, and certainly the interactive nature of Blotanical makes it worth more than any magazine as far as I'm concerned. Thanks to you, I've "met" so many wonderful people and discovered so many fabulous blogs. Surely a little payback is in order!

Thanks for all the great comments that have been trickling in - keep them coming.

I appreciate your honesty and candidness to "tell it like it is". I'm keen to know more about your thoughts on the Picks section.

To me, Blotanical is all about Picks and I'm a little bewildered that you're getting more out of this site than those - in fact, it seems that these have become the least desirable feature.

So, while we're continuing these thoughts on the advertising and revenue streams, I'm now also keen to know what you really do appreciate about this site and what brings you back. And, what features would have to remain to keep you enjoying the community interaction?

Stuart, like VP I am not surprised at this topic and I hope you can find an answer. I wouldn't be keen on option 1, partly because I would be reluctant to use my credit card to pay. I can also see that in the end this may be the only way to go, you need to generate an income if you continue to maintain the list at the current level.

I do like picks, partly because I like the lists of recent posts from blogs that I have choose to read. Is it these list or just 'picking' that is not liked? I would assume that it is these lists that is complex to maintain, feeds etc rather than the actual picking. Without these lists I wouldn't visit Blotanical as often, if at all. I also like the other lists which give me the opportunity to visit new blogs. I see the picks as a little thank you for writing a post and usually pick gardening post that I have read, if I give up half way I don't pick it!

Good luck and best wishes Sylvia (England)

Hurray - you're getting lots of good feedback :)

It's interesting that people think that all or most of the features are needed to attract people in the first place. So perhaps a 'try before you buy' approach is needed? So you get membership for say 3 months to get used to the site and try it out, then have to pay if you wish to continue.

I think that could work.

People like Sylvia should be charged a lower fee as they don't have a blog to share with others and are therefore getting less benefit from Blotanical than I do. Or perhaps a 'read only' feature could be free and you pay if you want to have your blog on here?

Another approach could be to have a certain level of Favourites with the free/trial service and you pay if you'd like more of them. However, I suspect people would just hive them off into something like Google Reader instead ..

Just some further thoughts for mulling over.

Hmm - I didn't answer your question on what brings me back to Blotanical, over what's on my Google Reader for example.

I'd say it's these things:

I can easily find lots more gardening and veggie growing blogs that I'm interested in, and much more quickly. The Favourites allows me to use Blotanical like a Google Reader for those blogs I like reading a lot.

Having a list of posts from blogs I don't read a lot is also great because there's always the odd post that catches my eye and demands to be read. And who knows? That blog might be another one I'd like to read a lot.

This is particularly useful when e.g. there's a Blogger problem. You can almost guarantee that a Blotanist has posted on the problem already and what needs to be done about it in a way I understand rather than the gobbledgook on Blogger - assuming I can find something there about it in the first place. More often than not that Blotanist isn't one of my regular reads.

I also like the message system because it allows me to say something that's off-topic instead of leaving a Comment on the blog. Assuming that the person logs onto Blotanical on a regular basis of course.

Stuart, some of the stuff you've put in the News has been incredibly useful. I wouldn't have known about the Feedburner swap over, if you hadn't said how it would affect Blotanical and I wouldn't have known what to do without your step by step guide, or else it would have taken me a lot longer to get it right! Your piece on website optimisation and the websites you use was very helpful.

As for the Forums - I've already posted in there my thoughts on the subject. Yes they need to be trimmed down and I think there's not enough members yet, plus we have with the widest possible geographical spread for them to work effectively. Other Fora I belong to have much higher membership and are tighter in the topics they address and/or geographical spread.

Sorry Stuart - that last essay was from me!

I have been thinking all afternoon about "why I use blotanical" and I am picking up on VP's comment above about hiving off blogs into google reader.

I read a lot of (textile) blogs through google and I have just noticed that I have 205 unread posts - I know that I am not going to read them and I shall just mark them all as read probably missing more than a few good posts because of this act.

This is one of the things I enjoy about blotanical - the feeling of NOT being overwhelmed by the list of posts from my favorite blogs.
The fact that I can dip into new to me blogs easily, and that if do miss a valuable post, someone, somewhere on blotanical will mention it and I can catch up with it.
I suppose this may be where picks could work well - if enough people rate a good post, then it must be worth a look
I like the points VP has made. I think that her suggestion of a free read only feature, and pay if you
have your blog here is interesting.
K

Regarding Picks? I find that the stats from my blog at wordpress give me a better idea as to who visits, especially since some Blotanists come by of their own blogs than thru Blotanical. Sometimes I wonder if those that have high pick numbers do it to rack up the points and not because it's a good post.
Otherwise, I like keeping my favorites lists and visiting new blogs and I like the message board. I do occasionally catch an interesting sounding post title as well.

I think Blotanical is an excellent site. The only feature I don't care for is doing Picks in order to gain points. Do we really need points? I'm sure many posts are picked for points but are never read properly. Why do blogs or bloggers need to be ranked?
Surely it is enough to glance through recent posts etc and bookmark/fave the ones you want to read regularly.
I can't comment about the advertising as I use Adblock so I don't see them.
The charging a fee idea is tricky. People are generally put off if they have to pay for something that was previously free, unless they are getting something extra. Will there be enough members left to make it worthwhile?

@ Karen -- you said: I suppose this may be where picks could work well - if enough people rate a good post, then it must be worth a look.

Unfortunately, Karen, the Picks system hardly means anything as far as how good a post is. Many people simply pick the post and move along, without leaving a comment, and, I believe, often without reading the post. That's why I do NOT like Picks, and never have. It's like a race to rack up points, or to keep a certain position in rank. And before anybody points out that my rank is #2 in the Guru classification, I very rarely ever visit or Pick a post without leaving a comment, and when I do, it's usually because there's nothing to say about it besides a virtual "thumbs up".

To each their own, I guess, but I'd much rather have the comment than the Picks point, and would happily give up all my points to be rid of them. :) Just my 2 cents worth -- I'm sure everyone's experience is different.

@ Nancy -
I actually agree with a lot of what you say Nancy, which is why I phrased my comment using the words "may" and "could".

Sometimes, I am not in position where I have time to leave a comment, then I quite like to pick a post as a way of saying I have been here, and I have enjoyed what you have written - perhaps posts could be picked, but the picks not totaled up like a score board, and only the blog owner knows if their post has been picked - I don't know the answer - just thinking out aloud.

Like you, I value comments, and I try to be a good commentator rather than an ace picker, but it doesn't always work out that way :(
K

About picks and things . . .

I joined Blotanical because it is a directory. That is how I have used it and is how I still value it. There are lots of blogs I wouldn't have found without it and, for a reason I haven't yet worked out, I find a relate more directly to many of the bloggers I have 'met' through Blotanical than with bloggers I have 'met' in other ways. There seem to be a lot of articulate, intelligent and friendly people gathered under this roof - and I appreciate it. Even odder, in a way, is that even when I disagree with members of Blotanical, or am not particularly struck by their blogs . . . I still feel connected with them!

But . . . I must confess that, when I joined, as well as having fun going round the blogs, I also thought it was very funny. (In the humorous sense.) It struck me as a very male set-up frequented mainly by women. The rows of little pictures representing blogs we have 'faved' are like the cards collected mainly by little boys - and I find it is men and boys who ask questions like 'which was your favourite character'? when we come out of a cinema . . . and I nearly always struggle to answer because rarely do I see things in that way.

And I struggled with the picks too. What are they for? Are they for when a writer posts something that is particularly outstanding compared with the rest of their work? Are they a way of recommending that others read those posts. If they represent a vote - what are they a vote for? It seems to me that while a blog would not get lots of picks if it weren't worthy of them, there are also many very good blogs which get hardly any at all - so I've decided the number of picks a blog gets says more about the kind of people who read the blog than about the blog itself.

Occasionally I have tried to enter into the spirit of the picking system but am all over the place with it. Sometimes I pick a post because I think it is specially good, that is true. However, although I would never pick a post I thought was rubbish, I confess I sometimes wander around picking posts because I haven't 'done any picking' recently and I feel it is sort of 'expected' of me from time to time. And sometimes I pick a post because I think the blog owner specially likes their posts to be picked, so giving them an extra one seems a friendly thing to do. And sometimes I pick a post as a way of saying 'hello'. Result? My picks will tell the blog owner absolutely nothing about what I think of their blog! Equally, there are lots of blogs I read which I never pick (or hardly ever) because I enjoy the posts so much I am thinking about what they say rather than thinking about 'picks'!

I've also found I have to be careful not to let the 'picking' and 'faving' systems distort my reading preferences. Sometimes, I have felt obliged to visit the blogs of those who have 'faved' or 'picked' my posts' and I waste so much time doing that, I miss out on reading the ones I would go to automatically if left to my own devices. Blog reading then becomes a 'duty' - which is daft.

Stuart, the other day, you asked if there are particular parts of Blotanical I find slow to negotiate so, yesterday, I went to a blog through Blotanical and picked a post - and timed it. I can give you a breakdown if you would be interested (it included mistakes like going to the 'My Faved Blogs' list, which isn't working - but that's part of it) and it took 89 seconds. (Reading and commenting on the post not included.) I then went to the same blog from my sidebar and timed that. The post came up instantly and it was fully loaded in 4 seconds. This is why I tend to find new blogs through Blotanical but rarely visit them through it afterwards - going to them directly by my own links instead.

So . . . what do I really value here? . . . um . . . the plots, the message boards and the list which says which posts have just been published.

If we were to pay? I'm one of those who doesn't pay anything over the internet because I don't trust it. You may think this is daft but, daft or not, I think there are quite a lot of us who still worry about that so it may be worth taking into account when working out a possible income generated from membership fees.

And if I hadn't joined Blotanical, would I be the worse off without it? Yes! I have no idea why it has managed to connect me with so many interesting people when its membership is self-selecting - but it has. However . . . I would probably have come across many of these garden bloggers through the comments they leave round the place, even without Blotanical. (Indeed, I first heard of Blotanical when Nancy Bond left a comment about it on a blog I was already reading and I'd come across a comment she'd made a few months earlier on another blog and she seemed a sensible sort of person - so I followed it up! Equally, I might have gone to her sidebar to see what blogs interest her and have followed them up instead.)

Adverts . . . I never click on them; anywhere. If ever I need to buy something, I will research it from scratch, not on the whim of a click. But, if it's any consolation, I think the way advertisers pay their hosts will probably have to change in time. After all, they are getting a lot of exposure simply by being seen on the site and that must be worth something. That's what they pay for in newspapers and magazines.

Back to picks . . . especially after reading Sylvia's comment (Karen's too) - if Blotanical could be speeded up (it takes 11 seconds from my plot to the main picks page) . . . could 'picks' stop being 'picks' and work more like a visitor's book? That way, one could leave a mark to say one had enjoyed the visit without having to make a judgement about the quality of the post? And there wouldn't have to be a league of most picked posts. Nor would we need lists of 'top pickers' either.

(The more I think of it, the more I think of 'Top Trump' cards. Do your children collect them? There are all sorts of comparisons on their backs . . . power, strength, endurance, length, height, . . . none of which are really to any particular point except to the little boys who crowd round them so avidly and get quite heated about them but . . . I don't know . . . it doesn't seem quite the right model somehow!)

(Except . . . there clearly are Blotanical members who like these features . . . and I expect they'll spring to their defence soon . . . )

I love the faved blogs feature, it saves me a ton of time, and I also love the new posts feature, which, as others have noted, gives me the option of reading posts from blogs I haven't faved and might not even know about. I also visit the "most popular blogs" feature every now and then to find new blogs that everyone apparently loves and I've been missing, and have discovered quite a few new favorites that way. So please keep those features whatever else you do!

I've been thinking about the problem and really haven't come up with anything useful. I've been on the internet for so long that I ignore ads. The flashing ones tend to keep me from coming back to a site. I've found annoying ads mostly in one spot on this site (the picks tab). Luckily I don't stay there long as the flashing gives me headaches.

I can however tell you how I use the site. That is easy.

I use the site to find blogs that I like to read. So two areas are the most important to me. The new blog list is the primary spot. I check every blog that signs up. I fave the ones that appeal to me. The second part is "my faved blogs" in the picks section. It lets me read all the most recent blogs. I could put them in Google Reader. That is where my non blotanical blogs are. I use the picks section because it is another way to let a blog owner that I like their posts. I do pick a most of the posts that I read from my faved blogs. The blogs are selected because I like them to start with so it isn't surprising that I like the posts. I've thought about moving them all to Google Reader. I think I might be happier with them there since this site is slow. Google Reader is a lot faster. I do like the time ordered list however.

I don't use much of the rest of the site. I message very occasionally, usually in response to someone else's message. I tend to use their blog to talk to them if I want to say something.

So basically I mainly use Blotanical as a directory but with a bit of social networking thrown in.

@Karen -- Sometimes, I am not in position where I have time to leave a comment, then I quite like to pick a post as a way of saying I have been here, and I have enjoyed what you have written - perhaps posts could be picked, but the picks not totaled up like a score board...

THAT sounds like a very reasonable proposal, Karen. A good idea, in fact. If the poster was the only one who saw the "pick", it would take the competitive nature of them away. I like it! I guess I was just thinking that removing the Picks altogether would save poor Stuart a few hairs...I figure he must be almost bald by now! :-)

Nice discussions, here.

@Lucy -- could 'picks' stop being 'picks' and work more like a visitor's book? That way, one could leave a mark to say one had enjoyed the visit without having to make a judgement about the quality of the post? And there wouldn't have to be a league of most picked posts. Nor would we need lists of 'top pickers' either.

Another good idea -- make a "pick" like a "calling card", especially useful for those who simply want to say 'I was here'. I like this option, too.

@Stuart -- I'm now also keen to know what you really do appreciate about this site and what brings you back. And, what features would have to remain to keep you enjoying the community interaction?

I appreciate everything about Blotanical, and most especially, I appreciate the long hours you've poured into it, Stuart.

I like the sense of community that Blotanical offers; most of us have never met face-to-face, but I feel as though I know many Blotanists like neighbours. Indeed, I know more about most of your gardens than I do my neighbour's plots. :-)

The features I find most useful are one's Plot, where all your info is stored in one place and can be easily accessed when necessary. It's also the best place to find out a little about a new Blotanist, or to leave a message for someone whose comments may not be working on their blog, etc.

I like the My Faved Blogs list as they are composed of the blogs which interest me most -- for example, I garden on a balcony, so any balcony garden I find is added to that list; or a gardener tht specializes in orchids, for example, when I'm just learning how to grow them. And of course, the gardens/gardeners that just strike my fancy. To have them all in one list is hugely convenient. For obvious reasons, I also like the list of New Blogs as some of My Faves come from those lists. I'd hate to see these features go.

Obviously, if Blotanical were to completely disappear, we could all still read each other's blogs, BUT I would sorely miss the sense of friendship and community that Blotanical has come to represent -- that more than any other feature. And I think that surprises you, just a little bit? ;)

So Interesting,

Nancy, I second what you have just written @Stuart
It is the friendships and community that I value most about Blotanical too.

Going back to the picks - Nancy you have just written something very similar to me - but I lost mine as I got muddled with the word verification.

The word "pick" is a word which can have strong connotations, not necessarily good ones, going back to school days. Picked for a team, Not picked for a team, the last to be picked, picked on. etc.

Using Esther and Nancy's suggestions, by changing the word "pick" to for example "visit" the flavor of the whole process is altered.

(I visited you, I spent time in your company, I called to see you)

If the number of visits were for the eyes of the blog owner only, we would have a level playing field, well perhaps not level, but different. There would still be folk who were active members of blotanical, and this would be recognized by the visits, comments and interactions they had within the Blotanical community, but it would be recognized by the folk they chose to spend time with, not a top ten hit list.

Or it could simply be a little space in the blog owners own plot with a number on it for those who do want it more public, no sorry - just thinking aloud there.

@Esther - I enjoyed reading your input - and yes now you mention it - I can see the similarity with top trumps, that takes me back a bit!

I like to read my blotanical favorites here through blotanical.
I like that I can find new blogs through the new blogs tab,
I like the current list tab and I like my plot.
K

I agree with others about Picks, it can go. But I know you love the Picks Stuart. I stopped picking ages ago as it is just so time consuming. When I first joined (and I was one of the first) there weren't the huge number of blogs and you could pick just about all the posts that came out each day, because, hey, you didn't want to leave anyone out. But now Blotanical has grown so huge it is hard to get around to all the blogs. So for me, Picks is something from the past. I don't always go to look at my posts to see who has picked them, again it is time consuming. I've been 'missing in action' for a few months at Blotanical as I found it was just too time consuming and I needed to spend more time on my real life. Perhaps things will change as the winter months approach.

I have always felt that once a member reaches Guru level they don't need to accumulate any more points. I mean, what are we going to do with all those points? I feel that Stuart likes the competitive side of things and that is why they stay. Is that right?

As for your suggestions: I'm not sure having members pay would solve your problem, as I'm sure many are like me and would think long and hard about paying ... especially with today's economic climate. I'm not really into advertising my blog (for a price). I get many, many hits all the time. To me the best way of advertising is to go out and visit blogs, leave friendly messages and you get visitors back and sometimes you get lucky and they add you to their blogroll. As there aren't a lot of bloggers from my area, seeing advertised events wouldn't interest me. And selling things online wouldn't be of interest to me either, mainly because I don't shop online, but also because of the mailing costs that are always invovled and the restricitons put on by various countries. I know mailing seeds across the border can be an issue in some places. So none of the options you mentioned to generate income would appeal to me at all and I probably wouldn't participate. But I'm only one person, and perhaps others would be interested in things like that.

Ads don't bother me as I don't see them as I use Mozilla Firefox with AdBlock. I know that doesn't help you out at all, but I've been to other sites that have ads and the owners all say similar things, they don't pay enough money (even when folks click through) and they are darn annoying to most viewers. I find ads annoying, sometimes because they flash (affects my eyes), they pop up right over what you are trying to read, and most times because they aren't relevant to me. I'm not an online shopper so they can't tempt me to spend my money.

From Blotanical I have made some wonderful garden blogging friends, and I keep those blogs on my sidebar, and it is much easier to visit from there. I find it is easier to leave messages that way too, as via picks or favouties it just seems to have extra clicks to get back to where you started. I have never used the favourite blotanist area, couldn't really see the point of it as most of the ones I would probably put there are already in my favourite section, so it would be duplicating things.

I think what it comes down to in the end is what you need to do to make Blotanical viable for you and your family. And what ever you decide will be okay with me, but you know you can't please all of the people all of the time.

You asked for more input so here are my thoughts: The points for picks seems to me to defeat the intent of picking posts that one thinks are of high quality, especially since picking gives the most points, 3, as opposed to leaving messages or logging in. I use Blotanical as a feed reader first and foremost. It shows the latest posts in a list that is easy to peruse. I also like using the maps to see bloggers around the world. And the search bloggers lists by blog name and blotanist name to find someone who may have left a comment on my blog without leaving a url, it happens sometimes for other wordpress users. I love the friendliness and meeting so many folks, especially from other continents. We all have so much in common with our love of gardening no matter where we live. I like the idea of picks as a calling card, sometimes there is no time for a comment, or I am too tired and cannot compose a decent sentence. As for the ads, they are a distraction, I will never click on them on any blog and do not have them on my own. Sorry to anyone who has them, but I don't like ads on TV either, especially when they YELL at you. I would pay a small fee, $15-20 to join. Paypal is what most places use, I now pay for the privelege of design changes on wordpress, $15 a year. Stuart, I hope you can find a way to make this work for you, I would hate to see Blotanical stopped.
Frances

I would be much happier if picks were eliminated altogether. For many reasons, most of which I won't go into here. I've never liked the 'perceived competitiveness' of the site. I've sometimes gotten caught up in it however, as it seems to be part of the 'game' of Blotanical.

Something that is bothering me This Very Moment is the fact that it 'looks' like I picked my own post, re: the Obedient Plant, and I most certainly didn't! I emailed Bangchik and thanked her for that. Now that it's nearly at the top of the picks page, it shows my name as the one who submitted my own post as a pick! This is another reason I don't like these kinds of things...it's not always accurate. And, I believe that (as others have said here) picks don't necessarily coincide with how 'good' a post is, but how 'popular' the blotanist is--as well as a way for 'pickers' to rack up points.

I agreed with Lucy's observations and have been back and forth with the whole thing at various times. I feel it isolates some bloggers from feeling like they want to bother, first-because it's so time-consuming; second-because it reminds me of middle school popularity contests. I'm not being rude here...if it sounds that way, it's because it's late at night and I'm typing quickly and am tired! No rudeness is intended;-)

I enjoy many aspects of this lovely website but would be just as happy to see some things eliminated. I don't need to see a list of 'most picked blogs' or 'most faved blogs' to be reminded of the ones I want to visit. I do like the current posts list, and that's how I find what I want to read, not by looking at what's popular. (I didn't intend to have another post at the top of the picks list as I write this. As soon as I publish this, I'm sure it will quickly fall off the list.) At least I hope so. I'm really not thrilled, as some people are, when my posts get picked over and over!

Two more ideas: How about putting a donations box somewhere? Wikipedia seems to do just fine that way.

And also, I'd be happy to pay some money for an ad-free Blotanical experience. How hard would it be to have paying viewers not see ads, and those who can't pay continue to see them?

(For my own Web site, I actually pay an extra fee so the ISP doesn't add ads, so maybe something reverse might be possible?

Think laterally.
1. If you are ADVERTISING a product, or a service, on your blog, which is hosted by Stuart’s Blotanical – you are using Stuart’s client base to advertise your product. When you place an ad in the local newspaper, or your national gardening magazine – you pay. For instance, there is currently a popular post about a fountain. It is an interesting post, Blotanists are picking it, but, it is an advertorial. “Would you like this fountain in your garden?” Do the commercial sites PAY you Stuart? PS AdBlock won’t block Advertorials, will it?
2. Instead of, what MORE can Stuart give us that would be worth paying for? What HAS he been giving us, that we would pay for? You Pick, you Pay. Since the emphasis of the Picks would change, we would all need to rank our Faves. Default would be chronological, first Blog you fave is your number 1 and so on.
3. Voluntary contribution? Because you like Blotanical?
4. Please KEEP “My faved Blogs posts”!

I would be happy to pay a annual fee if it would cut down on some of the annoying ads that take up so much room.

I 'pick' most posts to show that I visited because I don't always have time or inclination to leave a comment. I can take them or leave them, although it sometimes gives me feedback on what others like on my blog.

I like the favs and the new posts and the list of new blogs.

I do love Blotanical and appreciate all the work you do Stuart!

Blotanical has been a very good thing all round – introduced me to lots of good blogs, and provided the same service in return. Stuart deserves a lot of thanks and praise for his efforts, dedication and imagination.

But it has become too big and complex. To use a gardening analogy, it has turned into a large, unpruned climbing rose, still bearing many flowers but also equipped with too many thorns and thickets. It needs radical pruning, Stuart. Renovation pruning!

I don't pay to visit any site, and so that option is simply not on for me.

I think advertising is your best revenue option. One suggestion is to simplify the site to radically fewer pages and sections. I'd make the home page more advertising-friendly. For example, you could ditch the repetitive map showing the featured town and replace that with an ad box, and you could also ditch the most faved bloggers box as it doesn't change much and takes up valuable real estate on the home page, too.

The forums could be pruned heavily, too. It has so few threads and posts that could simplify it down to "food garden" and "flower garden" (or something as basic as that) and start from there. Once a demand for an extra section becomes bleedingly obvious because of the number of threads within the one genre, expand the forum, one bit at a time.

I, too, am not a fan of Picks. I don't even like favourites, frankly. And I couldn't be bothered accumulating points or any of that stuff. That's just me.

But if this site is taking up lots of your time, keeping you away from the kids, not earning money, I wouldn't just get out the secateurs. It's long-handled loppers and pruning saw time!

Here are a few thoughts from a country bumpkin dial up blogger.

For me loading pages with those moving ads is like pushing an elephant through a keyhole. It's simply not worth the time and effort.

I would like ( paid for by the vendors of course) a tab with links to new and exciting garden catalogs, and old favorites too.

I would like a tab to shop with links to garden stores.(Again paid for by the vendors) If it had a search maybe I could find the garden bench I'm looking for. If there were a tab for plants I could find out where that elusive specimen I might be looking for can be purchased.

Classified ads would be fun.

Please remember your poor dial up members as you make your changes. As it is now there are many things I simply can't access. Even widgets slow things down too much for me, making award participation impossible. That being said I love the parts of Blotanical that I can use!

Stuart - it's also the kind of adverts. There's one (it's currently stuck at the top of the page where you talk about the Blotanical awards) from the government of the USA - and its slogan is 'We have you covered'. It's about the information that the U.S.A. government holds. I find it quite creepy and disconcerting to be confronted with this almost every time I turn on. And for a while, there was one about what would you do if you lost your job - a bit near the bone for some readers perhaps?

I confess that I don't use Blotanical as often as I used to just because it takes so long to load and get around, and I have high speed internet! I rarely ever Pick anymore for the same reason, it is too time consuming.

I'm all for doing whatever needs to be done to make it more user friendly.

Stuart, I appreciate all the time and effort you give to make this site possible.

I will go along with doing away with the picks system. We usually read blogs we like and do not need to pick.
I am for the last two options. There are a few blogs that are commercial and others that get free advertisement for Nursery's, Esty, and Ebay just by being on Blotanical. They could buy advertisement space for their blog goods.
I have not had a problem with the ads on Blotanical because I know you need to generate funds for all that you have done with Blotanical. I can see where dial up systems would have a problem with slow uploads but they will have that with every location they go. To upload Blotanical is not what is slowing them down. It is the upload of the blog pages themselves and we would have that anywhere we go on the world wide web.
I have appreciated all of your hard work on Blotanical and enjoyed the experience of meeting new gardeners and the wealth of information that has been gain from it.

I pay about $50 US/year on beginnertriathlete.com to use the training log. It's actually possible to use it for free, and I did so for a couple of years, but after awhile, I realized that I appreciated it so much, I wanted to contribute something (sort of like contributing to my favorite public radio stations). For the $50, I get extra training plans (never use them) and a little weather widget at the top of my log. I already have a little weather widget on my garden blog, so I don't really need it, but I'm kind of obsessive about the weather, so it makes me happy to have a forecast nearby all the time, just in case ;-).

I guess my point is that I came in as a free user, but the site was so good that I decided to pitch in by becoming a paid member. People might be willing to do that here, too. I don't know.

I think I agree with everything that's been said about the picks. The most useful part of blotanical is the connections you make and the picks don't seem to add to that much. It is slow and awkward to use, so I've pretty much stopped "picking," though I do go there to see what new posts are up and click on the ones that look interesting.

Anyway, you've done us all a good favor, Stuart. I think I'd pony up for a membership of some kind.

I would appreciate more visual materials, to make your blog more attractive, but your writing style really compensates it. But there is always place for improvement

Exactly where could We uncover more info on this matter?

I would appreciate more visual materials, to make your blog more attractive, but your writing style really compensates it. But there is always place for improvement

Thats too nice, when it comes in india hope it can make a Rocking place for youngster.. hope that come true.

nice post =)